DESIGNING AND BUILDING A NEGOTIATING AUTOMATED AGENT

Abstract

Negotiations are very important in a multiagenl environment, particularly, in an environment where there are conflicts between the agents, and cooperation would be beneficial. We have developed a general structure for a Negotiating Automated Agent that consists of five modules: a Prime Minister, a Ministry of Defense, a Foreign Office, a Headquarters and Intelligence. These modules are implemented using a dynamic set of local agents belonging to the different modules. We used this structure to develop a Diplomacy player. Diplomat. Playing Diplomacy involves a certain amount of technical skills as in other board games, but the capacity to negotiate, explain, convince, promise, keep promises or break them, is an essential ingredient in good play. Diplomat was evaluated and consistently played better than human players.